Vibratory massage apparatus



United States Patent [72] lnventor Clifford Miles Martin 2439 S. Broadway, Denver, Colorado 80210 [21] Appl.No. 710,189 [22] Filed Mar.4,l968 [45] Patented Dec. 15,1970

[54] VIBRATORY MASSAGE APPARATUS 10 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

[52] van. 128/33 [51] Int.Cl i A6lhl/00 [50] FieldolSearch 128/33, 24.2, 24

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,937,641 5/1960 Oetinger 128/33 3,092,100 6/1963 Oetinger 128/33 Primary Examiner-L. W. Trapp Attorney-Anderson, Spangler & Wymore ABSTRACT: An arched palette having a pair of vibratory electric motors mounted on the underside thereof, each motor having separate controls. Both motors carry an eccentric mass rotatable with the motor shaft and operative to transmit vibratory motion to the palette. One motor has at least two, and preferably three, constant speeds selected by the user through an outboard motor control; whereas, the second motor comprises a variable-speed unit separately controlled by a rheostat. The amplitude and frequency of the vibratory pulsations imparted to the palette are a function of the phasing of the two motors used in combination, the constant-speed unit being set at one of its constant speeds and the variable-speed unit being adjusted so as to phase the amplitude and frequency of the vibratory pulses in accordance with the wishes of the user. The variable-speed motor does not transmit the vibratory pulses generated by the eccentric mass carried by the fan-type impeller directly to the palette but, instead, does so indirectly in the form of a combination of circular and wobble motions due to the axial displacement of the eccentric mass through a pair of motor-mounting plates and an associated pair of rubber-grommetted rings, the points of attachment of which appear to significantly affect the amplitude of the pulses developed within the assembly to a level well above that possible with a direct coupling.

PATENTEU DEE] 5mm 3547.109

sum 1 0F 2 ff 4 7g {(6 FIG. 3.

mvsnnon 174 CLIFFORD MILES MARTIN VIBRATORY MASSAGE APPARATUS Over the last several years, vibratory massage devices have become increasingly popular as a means to relax and revitalize tired, aching muscles and, in some instances, for therapeutic purposes. For the most part, these prior art units relied strictly on a single eccentrically weighted electric motor,'sometimes of the multiple-speed or variable-speed type, to generate the vibratory motion. Few, if any, however, have incorporated the principle of using two vibratory units in combination with one another, the relative speeds of which cooperate to develop pulses of considerably greater amplitude and lower frequency than is possible to achieve with a single motor alone. The low frequency high-amplitude pulsations more nearly approximate the beneficial massage techniques used by a skilled masseur. On the other hand, by phasing the two units properly at low speeds, a cooperative damping action can be achieved which is so gentle it becomes almost imperceptible. Even when synchronized, the amplitude of the vibratory pulsations is much improved, even though the frequency thereof can be made to approximate that of a single vibratory unit.

A further improvement in the vibratory action of the unit has been achieved by displacing the eccentric mass axially toward one end of the motor and mounting same in specially designed rubber-grommetted couplings that allow the motor to wobble about a point on its longitudinal axis. In addition,

experiments have shown that interposing a 'solid metal plate between the motor and the grommetted disk and displacing the points of attachment of each onto circles of different radii greatly enhances the amplitude of the vibratory pulses engendered by the wobble" motion or, possible, reduces the damping action inherent in a concentric mounting so that vibratory motion is passed onto the vibratory unit housing essentially undamped.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved vibratory massage apparatus.

A second objective is the provision of a unit of the type aforementioned which incorporates two vibrating units, one a multiple constant-speed electric motor and the other a variable-speed electric motor. 7

Another object of the invention herein disclosed and claimed is to provide an electric vibrator inwhich the relative speeds of the two vibrating motors can be adjusted so as to vary both the frequency and amplitude of the vibratory pulsations induced in the palette. I

Still another objective is to provide at least one of the vibratory motor subassemblies with an axially displaced eccentric mass and mount same in a resilient mounting so that the unit produces a combination of circular motion around its longitudinal axis and a wobble motion about a point on said axis.

An additional objective is to provide the resiliently mounted vibratory unit or units with a specially designed coupling between the motor and palette that enhances, or at least does not appreciably damp, the vibratory motion transferred to the palette.

A further object is to provide a vibratory massage unit that is easy to operate, safe, rugged, versatile, relatively compact,

incorporates adjustable pulse amplitude and frequency, and is decorative in appearance.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out specifically hereinafter in connection with the description of the drawings that follows, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the vibratory massage apparatus and motor controls used to adjust the speeds of the motors;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view without the motor controls;

FIG. 3 is a vertical section to an enlarged scale taken along lined-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a further enlarged fragmentary sectional detail showing the variable-speed vibratory subassembly including the motor, eccentrically weighted fan-type impeller, housing and resilient coupling therebetween;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional detail similar to FIG. 5 except that it shows the rear end of the subassembly rather than the side elevation thereof;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary section taken along line 7-7 of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary section taken along line 8-8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a section taken alone line 9-9 of FIG. 7; and,

FIG. 10 is a detail showing the fan-type impeller blade and eccentric mass carried thereby.

Referring now to the drawings for a detailed description of the present invention and, initially, to FIGS. 1 and 2 for this purpose, reference numeral 10 has been employed to designate the vibratory massage apparatus in its entirety and reference numeral 12 to similarly designate the body palette thereof. Palette 12 comprises an arched orconvex molded plastic laminate having a top 14 terminating'at opposite extremities in vertically disposed down-tumed endwalls 16. Integrally formed raised ribs 18 border the side margins of the palette and adjoin side panels 20. Carrying handles 22 are attached to opposite side panels as shown. I

The palette is formed to provide a relatively rigid smooth surface curved to conform generally with the back of an adult user. Fastened to the lower edges of the side panels are elongate horizontal supporting members 24 having upturned ears at their opposite extremities. These supportsraise the palette slightly off the floor. A molded plastic shield 26 of generally concave cross section extends across the underside of the palette and the upturned endwalls of said shield fasten to the inside of the side panels as shown. This shield covers the electrical apparatus to be described presently so asto prevent injury from electricalshock or damage from the whirling impeller blades. It also serves to catch and retain any lubricants that might drip from the motors.

Emerging from one of the side panels through suitable rubber grommets 28 and is a power cord 30 having a combination on-off" switch and multiple-speed motor control 32 wired therein. Power cord 30 is adapted for connection into a household wall plug'wired to furnish llOV'. AC current. A

- second cord 34 emerges from the side panel of the palette and carries a second motor control in the form of a rheostat 36.

Next, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4', it will be seen that a pair of elongate generally U-shaped motor mounts 38 with out-turned flanges 40 along the upper free margins thereof are bolted to the underside of the palette on the transverse centerline thereof and adjacent opposite side panels 20. The motorreceiving tunnels 42 defined by the open-endedmounts 38 are axially aligned, as are the shafts 44 and 46 of the electric motors 48 and 50 housed therein. The motors 48 and 50 are essentially identical to one another, although they are controlled and mounted difl'erently. The cases 52 are cylindrical and that of motor 48 is enclosed in a tight-fitting tubular metal shield 54 covered by a relatively thick layer of rubber which is, in turn, encased in motor mount 38 which tits tightly therearound and holds same snuggly against the underside of the palette as shown in both FIGS. 3 and 4.

Motor 50, on the other hand, is resiliently mounted within motor mount 38 so as to enable the latter to wobble about a point on its longitudinal axis as will be explained in detail presently in connection with FIGS. 4-9, inclusive.

Each motor has mounted on the shaft thereof a fan-type impeller 56 that carries an eccentric mass 58 that has been illustrated most clearly in FIGS. 5 and 10 to which reference will now be made. The impeller 56 is of conventional design providing a hub 60 adapted to fasten onto motor shafts 44 and 46 with a set screw or similar fastener (not shown). Equiangularly spaced radial slits 62 separate a plain circular metal disk 64 into a plurality of vanes 66, each of which is twisted in the same direction about its longitudinal axis to define fan blades adapted to move the heated air away from the adjacent motor.

One of the blades 66 has fastened thereto near its free end the eccentric mass 58 which, in the particular form shown, comprises nothing more than a hollow cylindrical metal weight 68 and a bolt 70. Thus, two vibratory subassemblies indicated in a general way by reference numerals 72 and 74 transmit vibratory motion to the palette along the transverse vious, expedient of locating the circles defined by one pair of mounting studs 86 inside the grommet circle (90, 9 2).and the other pair of mounting studs 88 outside thereof. Considerable damping of the vibratory motion in vibratory subassembly 72 occurred when the circles defined by the centers of mounting holes 86, 38, 90 and 92 were concentric.

Motor control 32 is connected to motor 48 and has slow," medium" and fast positions :which, obviously, are operative to set the motor at any one of three fixed speeds. Rheostat 36, on the other hand, is connected to motor 50 and provides centerline thereof from a position immediately therebeneath. In the particular form of the invention illustrated herein, the vibratory motion induced by vibratory subassembly 74 is more nearly circular" due to the minimal wobble" motion peri, mitted by rubber-covered shield 54 encased in mount 38. The i vibratory motion induced by vibratory subassembly 72, on the other hand, is a combination of circularand substantial wobj: ble motion that is achieved by the novel resilient mounting of motor 50 which will now be described in detail in connection with FIGS. 5-9, inclusive, where it is most clearly revealed.

. integrally-formed. radial ribs 76 form a part of the motor case 52 and they emanate from a hub 77 that journals the g I motor shaft. Four such radial flanges are provided on each end 1 of the motor case spaced apart angularly 90. Each of these means for varying the rpm. thereof continuously from nearly zero to maximum. It thus becomes possible to phase vibratory motion imparted to the palette by varying therelative speeds of the two motors. in other words, by setting motor 48 5 at one of its three speeds and carefully varying the speed of motor 50, it becomes possible to almost damp out the vibratory motion by getting the respective eccentric masses 180 out jl' iflanges has as a part thereof an internally threaded integral boss, one pair 78 of which is arranged diametrically the same i. radial distance on opposite sides of the hub axis but at a Tshorter radial distance therefrom than the other diametrical air of bosses 80 which lie at right angles thereto. A metal disk 2, having parallel truncated edge portions 84 and four 'f."diametrically-located pairs of apertures 86, 88, 90 and 92, is bolted to the bosses 78 and 80. Apertures 86 are the same radial distance from the motor shaft axis as bosses 78 and they, therefore, receive the screws 94 that fasten same I together. Apertures 88 have their centers the farthest from the f'motor shaft axis and they receive screws 96 that fasten said plate into bosses 80. The remaining pairs of apertures 90 and '15,} 92 have their centers located on a common circle (dotted line -in FIG. 9) lying between the circles defined by aperture pairs 86 and 88. Aperture pair 90 lies at right angles to it'scompanion pair of apertures 92 and midway between apertures 86 and 88 to place same at 45 to the latter. Disk 82 also has a J central opening 98 therethrough,that, passes the motor shaft. Discs 82 are fastened to the opposite ends of the motor 50. A pair of circumferentially flanged circular plates 100 are k'fastened to the disks 82 on opposite ends of motor 50. The i .:overall diameter of plates 100 is somewhat greater than that of vthe motor case 52 as the peripheral flanges thereof engage the F5 inside of tubular motor housing 104 which, in turn, fastens inside motor mount 38 which holds said housing snuggly up against rubber pad 102 fastened to the underside of the palette f as shown in FIG. 6.

Now, plates 100 each have a central aperture 106 for the Z motor shaft and four large openings 108 located to provide 'ac- -.cess to the heads of screws 94 and 96. Between the latter openings are two diametrically spaced pairs of openings 110 corresponding to apertures 90 and 92 in disc 82. Rubber grommets 112 with central openings therein of the same size as apertures 90 and 92 are fastened inside openings 110 so as T:-to provide resilient cushions between the plate and disc underneath the heads of rivets 114 that fasten said plate to the Ifdisc, and around the shanks of said rivets. Thus, motor 50 is l isupported on both ends by rubber grommets 112 and is, there fore, free to wobble about a point on its longitudinal axis due "to the location of the rotating eccentric mass 58 well forward -of the front end of motor 50 and with no counterbalancing R mass on the rear end. The resultant vibratory motion of vibra- -tory subassembly 72 is complex and a combination of the circular and wobble motion induced in the motor 50 by rapidly *rotating eccentric mass 58 displaced forwardly along the "-i motor shaft axis. Such motion is transmitted to the motor case .gQthrough the shaft journal, thence to disks 82 through radial ribs 76 and the mounting screws, to plates 100 by means of the lfrivetsl 14, from plate 100 to the motor housing 104, and from Kathe latter to the palette, both directly through pad 102 and {through the medium of mount 38. While pad 102 and grommets 112 undoubtedly damp out a portion of the vibratory motion produced in vibratory subassembly 72 .before it .;.-reaches the palette, the wobble action that is made possible by ltheso-called floating? motor mount for motor 58 is far suf-perior to the motion produced by a rigid mount like that of fimotor 48. Also, for some inexplicable reason, a much imvibratorv response is achieved by the simple, but unobing the motors and phasing the masses, strong frequent vibratory pulsations are induced. The preferred method of operating the unit is to adjust the motors at different speeds such that the amplitude of the pulses increases intermittently to a maximum as they approach the in phase relation and then diminish steadily before repeating again. By operating the motors at nearly the same speed, the frequency at which the pulses of maximum amplitude occur is relatively far apart. Con versely, .a rapid buildup to maximum pulse amplitude is achieved through operating the motors at widely different speeds. By-slowing down the motors, the maximum amplitude of the pulses is diminished and it is increased at high speeds. ln 1 betweenthese extremes, onecan achieve such things as alternating low and high amplitude pulses while varying both the maximum and minimum amplitude thereof as well as their frequency. 7 I a Having thus described the several useful and novel features of the vibratory massage apparatus of the instant invention, it .will be seen that the several worthwhile objectives for which it was developed have been achieved. Although but a single specific embodiment has been. illustrated, realize that certain changes and modifications therein may well occur to those skilled in the art within the broad teaching hereof; hence, it is my intention that the scope of protection afforded hereby shall be limited only insofar as said limitations are expressly set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. i The vibratory massage apparatus which comprises: a palette having a relatively thin-walled top of arched configuration capable of supporting a human body lying thereon while transmitting induced vibratory motion to the latter; first vibratory means attached to the underside of the top near its transverse centerline and adjacent one side thereof, said vibratory means including an electric motor with a rotatable shaft projecting from one end thereof, a flywheel mounted on said shaft eccentricrelation to the .shaft axis; first control means con nected to the first vibratory means operative upon actuation to run the latter at least onefixed speed; second vibratory means in the form of anelectric motor' having a shaft projecting from one end thereof, a flywheel mounted on the shaftfor rotation therewith, and a mass carried by said flywheel in eccentric relation to the shaft axis; motor mounting means resiliently fastening the second vibratory means to the underside of the top near its transversecenterline and adjacent the opposite side thereof, said mounting means including a pair of circular metal plates of a diameter greater than the maximum outside dimension of the motor resiliently mounted in concentric relation on opposite ends thereof so as to permit said motor to move in a restricted circular orbit about its shaft axis as well as wobble about a point on said axis, a tubular housing with inside diameter sized to engage the outside edges of said circular metal plates, and a generally U-shaped rigid bracket means fitted tightly around said housing in spaced relation to said motor, said bracket means being fastened to theunderof phase with one another. On the other hand, by synchronizfor rotation therewith, and a mass carried by said flywheel in side of the palette top and adapted to hold said housing tightly thereagainst in tangential relation; and, second motor control means independently connected to said second vibratory means, said second motor control means comprising a rheostat operative upon actuation to vary the speed of said second vibratory means relative to said first vibratory means so as to vary the amplitude and frequency of the vibratory pulses induced in the palette due to the phase relation of the rotating eccentric masses.

2. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which; a rubber pad is wrapped about the motor of the first vibratory means, and a generally U-shaped rigid bracket means fits around said rubber padded motor and holds same snuggly up against the underside of the palette top.

3. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which: the first motor control means includes at least two operative positions, one capable of running the motor of the first vibratory means at one constant speed and the second operative to run said motor at another constant speed different from the first.

4. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which: the flywheels in both the first and second vibratory means comprise bladed fan-type impellers.

5. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which: a tubular metal shield is interposed between the motor of the first vibratory means and U-shaped bracket means of the motor mounting means.

6. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which: the motor of the second vibratory means includes a casing having four motor-mounting bosses on each end thereof in axially aligned relation, said bosses being arranged in diametrical equiangularly spaced pairs about the motor shaft axis, the bosses of each diametrical pair thereof being spaced the same radial distance on opposite sides of said motor shaft axis; and, a metal disk rigidly fastened to the four bosses on each end of said motor casing and resiliently fastened to the circular metal plate adjacent thereto in faceto-face relation by means of four rubber-grommetted fasteners, said rubber-grommetted fasteners attaching to said plate at points intermediate the points of attachment of said disk to said motor casing bosses.

7. The vibratory massage'apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which: the diametrical distance separating the bosses of one diametrically arranged pair of bosses is less than the diametrical distance separating the other diametrical pair thereof.

8. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 6 in which: the rubber-grommetted fasteners are arranged on a circle concentric with the motor shaft axis.

9. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 8 in which: one pair of diametrically arranged bosses lies on a circle larger than that defined by the rubber-grommetted fasteners and the other pair of diametrically arranged bosses lie on a circle smaller than said circle defined by said rubbergrommetted fasteners.

10. The vibratory massage apparatus as set forth in claim 9 in which: the rubber-grommetted fasteners include circumferentially slit rubber grommets adapted to provide a resilient cushion between the fasteners and circular metal plate as well as between said plate and associated disc. 7 

